Chicago Fire 0-0 Real Salt Lake: Defenses come up trumps

By Zac Lee Rigg

C.J. Brown made a living as a gritty defender, so it was fitting that the defenses triumphed on the day he was inducted into the "Ring of Fire."

The Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake ground out a 0-0 draw on Wednesday.

The best chance of the game came after just three minutes. Patrick Nyarko floated a cross that caught out Kyle Reynish, standing in for the injured Nick Rimando, and found Dominic Oduro. The powerful snapped header crashed off the crossbeam and was cleared.

Both Reynish and Sean Johnson kept clean sheets, thanks in a large part to the wastefulness of Paulo Jr. and Marco Pappa.

"See that big zero on the board?" RSL defender Chris Schuler said. "Objective completed." Chicago rookie Austin Berry, making his second career start, will likely agree.

Current RSL assistant coach C.J. Brown was inducted into Chicago's "Ring of Fire" at halftime. The defender played 372 times for the Fire over 13 years.

"It's a weird feeling coming back to Chicago, which I consider one of my homes, and not being able to support them in that fashion, but I still have a deep place in my heart for them," Brown said.